He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever” – Chinese proverb

As an executive search firm Oakstone work hard to find the right talent for our clients in a range of executive positions. During the numerous phone calls we make daily we engage with people, ask them about their career goals, present opportunities and are then faced with an abundance of questions that we then answer about anything relating to the roles, companies and the sector in general.

Its important to take note that the people we make contact with are usually at the top of their field earning hundreds of thousands of pounds – and they take the time to think about the situation and ask questions about the role which is being discussed.

Questions are the best way to learn about new things, they show you are thinking about the situation in hand and that you are inquisitive and actively seeking to understand things better. So why don’t we ask more questions?

For some people the reason they don’t ask questions is because they are too lazy – they presume they know the main things they need to know and that is enough. They take the information away and later realise there is so much about it they don’t know.

Another reason is that they are too afraid to feel like they don’t know it all.

There is no shame in asking questions – they help us to learn and evolve into more knowledgeable people and every workplace should encourage everyone to ask as many questions as they can about any division of the company. To become a better informed person you must ask more questions – it shows you are actively thinking and are thinking ahead about the information you’ll need but don’t yet have.

So… we should all be asking more questions, simply to become more knowledgeable about our professional and personal lives.

As employers you want to attract inquisitive, thoughtful and diverse people so you need to be willing to put the time in to answers people’s questions. Having one on one time with your team gives them time where they can ask whatever they like and in return you can do the same.

What do you think? Do you think people need to start asking more questions?